Putting it into Perspective

Chillin' during the (two-hour) sit-down reception last weekend

If you've never met me in person before, then this blog is the main way for us to "meet," at least for now that is.  That thought actually kind of scares me a little!  I am focusing so much on one part that you may not be getting an accurate view of me.  I have been thinking about this alot and hoping that I am not coming across as being too focused on running.  Don't get me wrong, I love to run, but it's not who I am.

Thus, some things about Katie that you may or may not know:

*I run (at most) 4 days a week.  It is not a big part of my day, as it's mostly done in the wee morning hours. 

* I often feel like my training is inadequate, but I don't feel like putting in any more effort.  This leads me to "kamikaze run," a term used to describe Shalane Flanagan's once-foolish race strategy that now pretty well describes mine (see Runner's World article here).

* I raced 16 times last year, less than 1/3 of the Saturdays in the year.  I raced only 6 times in 2009.

*My main enjoyment in running comes from the fact that it is a common bond between my husband and me.  We met through running, have finished marathons side-by-side, and offer each other support and encouragement as we train.  I ache for all couples to have something like this that they can enjoy doing together.  I miss the frequent training we used to do together before having children.

*Our main focus for our marathons is childcare and available activities for the children at our destination.  The marathon is a distant dead-last in terms of what I think about as I am packing for one of our trips. 

* I have 60 posts on this blog, which I started last May.  I have 280 posts on my (private) family blog, which I started when my son was born nearly five years ago.  I spend a great deal of time uploading pictures to that blog, adding little stories from the month, etc.  I am on that blog A LOT.  It's a much better picture of who I am.

* I gave up my teaching career to stay at home and raise our two children.  I think alot about what my daily life will be like in two years when they are off in "big school."  My proudest achievement over the last four years has nothing to do with running.  It's teaching at their preschool so that I could pay their tuition with my salary. 

*I love being their mother and work daily on being a better mom.  My nightstand always has a collection of Christian parenting books on it.  I'd much rather get better at mothering than marathoning, and I'd much rather be remembered as a good mother than as some girl who did pretty well in some races.

So, it is my hope that my readers will understand where I'm coming from when I post on this blog.  I will continue to make it very running-heavy, because that's what it's about.  I just wanted you to know that that's not what my life is about.

Shaving 35 Minutes Off the Marathon in Less Than 1 1/2 Years

My marathon times have followed a pretty clear pattern over the past 17 months.  They're getting faster!  And by leaps and bounds too.  Here are the dates and times of the last 5 marathons I've raced in:

September 20, 2009 3:53:56

October 18, 2009 3:49:19 (roughly 4 minute improvement)

February 28, 2010 3:35:57 (roughly 14 minute improvement)
November 7, 2010 3:29:25 (roughly 6 minute improvement)
February 19, 2011 3:18:05 (roughly 11 minute improvement)

Now, I'd love to share with you the secret "formula" that I followed to make this improvement possible!  Except... I don't have one!   I don't keep a running log (never have!), but I can't remember making any significant changes over the past 17 months.  About a year ago, I started running with my group of running friends.  They met in the early morning, and I quickly joined their group and began running 6 miles or so three times a week.  The miles were not excessively fast (mostly 10 minute miles).  This was the first time I was running this regularly and this far since having two children.  I think the consistency is such a key for me.  I was finally back to a regular running routine.  My body remembered marathons in the 3:40 pace, then the 3:30, then the 3:20.  It had felt all of those before, but that was before I had children.  I'd love here to insert something about how much I weighed back then compared to how much I weigh now, but I don't weigh myself either (see here).  So I'm not much help in figuring out the secret, now am I? 

Here's something that I do think is crucial to note.  Between October/November and February each time I shaved the most time off of my marathon times (roughly 14 and 11 minutes).  Each year I had run a 50K at the end of January.  In December 2010, I had paced a marathon.  From seeing this, I not only advocate using one marathon as a long run for another (the marathon a month philosophy), I also advocate using slower long runs and runs that are over the marathon distance as a means of training.  I think the 50K truly helped me perform better on the marathon that followed it.  It certainly made the marathon seem easier!

I am probably at a plateau for now (I'm not thinking I am going to get much faster than this based on my pretty poor--though consistent--training).  At this stage, I am planning to make small diet, workout, and running changes to see if I can take "only" 3 more minutes off of my marathon time.  I tried a yoga class for the first time this week and really noticed that I lack upper body strength.  Working my core out would really help me be a stronger runner.  I am trying to eat healthier (that is not hard to do since I love candy and junk food).  And I would like to use several of the 5K and 10K races as speed work for my upcoming marathons since I don't care much for "regular" speed work. 

It seems like the advice you can take from my journey is that speed may, ironically enough, come slowly over time or gradually over a series of marathons that you have planned.  I hope any other runners out there reading this might be inspired by my 35 minute improvement to see if you could do the same.  Maybe you will follow a more structured approach than I did, but the key is to find what works for you. 

Finally, this post would be lacking if I did not point out that the marathons listed above are about much more than the finish time.  I have included one or two pictures from each marathon below.  I hope you will be able to see some of the happiness that running marathons with my husband has brought me over the last 17 months.  The time on the clock is irrelevant to the joy I have felt at each of these races. 

Maui Marathon Maui, HI September 20, 2009 3:53:56

At the beach upon our arrival in Maui.

 

 IMT Des Moines Marathon Des Moines, IA October 18, 2009 3:49:19

A good ol' hotel picture after the race was over. 

 Rock 'N' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon New Orleans, LA February 28, 2010 3:35:57

Before the race began.  We had just watched the sun rise and were soaking in the other runners' excitement.

 Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia November 7, 2010 3:29:25

The shirts, numbers, and medals

A great spot along the course with beautiful changing leaves

 Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon Myrtle Beach, SC February 19, 2011 3:18:05

On the beach the afternoon of the marathon

Mountain Mist History

Before I post on my strategy behind running the 2011 Mountain Mist, I wanted to look back over the past 9 Mountain Mists and to give a little account of each one. As you will see, this race is such an important part of Rick's and my past. We love this race for much more than the finish times, but for every story that is behind each of the 30 miles of this amazing course.

2003

This is the year we fell in love while training for Mountain Mist. You know you are really a running couple when most of your courting/newlywed pictures are at a race start--ha! Notice the only pictures are of us next to each other with big cheesy smiles on our faces (while in the other years there are actually pictures of us running). Hey love birds, wasn't there a race that day too?

2004

2005

2008

2010

Photo credit note: The majority of these pictures were from our camera, some (2008 and 2010) were from previous Mountain Mist in the "race photos" section of the website or facebook.

*

Just google "Mountain Mist 50K," and you are going to get a bunch of cool stories about this awesome race (click here, here, here, here, here, and here to see some other past runners' race reports that I found through Google). Wow! This race draws people from all around, and we locals are so lucky to have it so nearby. I actually thought about running it for a couple of years before getting up the nerve to train for it. I found a running friend, Jennie, to train with me. And I asked Rick to help me learn the trails. He was a mountain biker and a runner and was also training for his first Mountain Mist. I was a graduate student at Auburn University at the time. When I came up for Christmas Break, I trained hard on the trails. Our first date was January 3, 2003, and we were so cute and in love by our first Mountain Mist.

I nearly backed out when I sat in my dorm room reading the pre-race instructions: "You can still back out. Your family needs you. This race has left many a good trail runner beaten, bruised, and bloody. You will do bodily harm." Was this really my thing? Rick convinced me that I was ready. He was ahead of me the whole time that year, but he managed to find a pen to write, "Hang in there. See you at the finish" on the inside of a paper cup at the mile 25 aid station. I still have that cup. It provided me so much encouragement and happiness that day. I remember loving the aid stations (like little parties--each one was so fun and had such yummy treats--M&Ms are my favorite), the Stone Cuts (amazing that I was in a race yet in the middle of the forest inside a wall of stones in the pitch black!), and the ice along the course (very cold year).

*

The next 8 Mountain Mists have been a series of ups and downs, as you can see with this summary of our times. Each one holds different memories, some good and some bad. I can't look back at 2004 without remembering the elation I felt at breaking 6 hours or at 2008 without remembering the huge burden I felt to get back into shape while limping in at over 7 hours. These are just times to you, but they tell me so much more.

*

Years     Katie                                                  Rick
'03         6:17                                                    5:53
'04         5:46                                                    6:09
'05         6:42                                                    6:31
'06          X (pregnant 1st child)                       6:37
'07         DNF (pregnant 2nd child)                 6:34
'08         7:03                                                    DNF
'09           X (failed to register in time!)            X
'10         6:06                                                   6:18       

  

1st Mountain Mist

January 25, 2003

Katie 6:17:05

Rick 5:53:56

My most vivid memories were of that oh-so-memorable first race.
But here are a few more memories from years 2-9:

2nd Mountain Mist

January 26, 2004

Katie 5:46:32

Rick 6:09:35

This was a very warm day. We took a little disposable camera along and snapped pictures along the way. We had just gotten engaged (on a trail run at the top of Rest Shelter Hill on January 3, 2004--one year from our first date). We later named our first dog Monte.

3rd Mountain Mist

January 27, 2005

Katie 6:42:55

Rick 6:31:21

Muddy and rainy! The race finished at The Lodge (the site of our wedding reception)

4th Mountain Mist January 28, 2006

I was pregnant with our son.

Rick 6:37:37

5th Mountain Mist

January 27, 2007

I stopped at 16.9 miles since she was 11 weeks pregnant with our daughter.

Rick 6:34:06

6th Mountain Mist

January 26, 2008

Katie 7:03:49

Rick dropped out at mile 2 stress fracture in pelvis

Beautiful fog that year!

7th Mountain Mist

2009

We did not register in time (by now this race was filling up quickly--lesson learned) so we volunteered at aid station mile 25 at Monte Sano Blvd.

8th Mountain Mist

January 23, 2010

Katie 6:06:04 

Rick 6:18:34
The muddiest Mountain Mist I've done! I ran right through the puddles from the very beginning, saving a lot of time.

We are less than a week away from this year's race, and a week from today the story will be written. I sit here wanting to prove myself before possibly taking another couple years off to have a baby, and Rick is two weeks from having done a run due to some back pain. He's wondering if he can even start this year. Yet we stay optimistic. We are both hoping to have a good finish with good stories to tell.

A Decade of Running Has Been a "Blast!"

If I've figured this correctly, my Huntsville Rocket City Marathon this year will be my 20th marathon and will mark the 10th year of my running marathons. I like that those two big milestones will converge on my "home turf," so to speak. Rocket City was my first marathon back in 2001. I ran it again in 2004 and had some great memories the second time too. I'm also pretty happy with the two-marathons-a-year pace we've set over the last decade (Rick's had a similar number, maybe one less?). It's been a busy decade with starting our family, so it will be interesting to see how we do in our second decade of running. Rick thinks once you are close(r) to the 50 states that you may get excited and pick up the pace a bit, maybe even hitting some of the harder-to-travel-to states in a doubles weekend.

A little walk down memory lane...

Here Rick and I are running Rocket City together in 2001. John Christy is to the right. Rick and I were just friends when this picture was taken. It is our first picture together. We ran several miles together, then he left me. He headed to work right after finishing the race. I returned for the awards and randomly won the $1000 cash prize. It was an unforgettable day!

My second Rocket City. It was colder and rainy. Rick paced me and I ran with April Brass. I was competing in the Grand Slam that year and needed to finish Rocket City (plus 3 other ultras in town) in order to get a finisher's prize. It turned out to be a really nice duffle bag that I use for all of my weekend trips now.